Shifting the Blame
by BobbyMungler
Summary: The one person who Kano hates most is Shintaro, but that could all change in the blink of an eye. (Kanoshin. This is my first fanfiction, and I know almost nothing of real Japanese culture. So, I've not used words such as senpai or chan, and I dunno if the food used is actually eaten in Japan. And also, I dunno when I'll update this, it might take a while. Sorry!)
1. Chapter 1: A Distorted Memory

Chapter 1: A distorted memory

Kano was running. He ran faster than he ever had before, panting harder with every step. He didn't know where he was, where he was going, or even why he had such a hollow feeling inside. All he knew was this: Ayano was in danger. Kano could feel his heart racing, and the blood pumping through his veins. He felt his body pulsing beneath him, ready to give up at any second and crumple to the ground. It felt as if he had been running for miles. But, he persevered, while staggering and flailing. His cat like eyes scanned the area around him desperately, but he could see nothing but darkness.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard a scream.

"Kano!" shrieked the voice, and he could tell that it was the voice of the one person he cared about more than the world. The voice belonged to Ayano. His eyes suddenly became focused, and he was once again fully aware of his surroundings. Kano was on the roof of the school building, which he had visited multiple times before. He locked onto the position of the scream, and suddenly, he could see her. Ayano was hanging off of the edge of the building, one arm and her head barely visible as she clung for her life.

She let out another cry for help, as she and Kano locked eyes. He felt the adrenaline pumping through his body. The fatigue no longer affected him. He sprinted faster than ever before, and like a cheetah, he raced towards his goal. Unfortunately, his tremendous burst of speed wasn't enough, and as he skidded towards her, she fell. Kano jumped down onto his stomach and threw his hand over the edge to try and catch her, but he missed her hands. She fell further and further away from him, into the mouth of the giant snake of darkness.

The tears of Kano fell over the edge too, as he wailed and cried for her to come back. Then, from behind him, he heard a snickering. Kano quickly turned to face the voice of mockery. The older boy stood there, and continued to snicker with a sickening half smile. He had cold, dead eyes, and darkness hung below them. His eyes met with Kano's, but neither boy dropped their glares.

"You couldn't save her," claimed Shintaro "just like how you couldn't protect your mother. No matter how old you get, and no matter how well you act, you'll always be too weak," he threatened. "You'll never be able to protect those you love most."

"Why… Why didn't you help her?" Kano stuttered through his veil of tears.

"Because" answered Shintaro "that was your job. And you failed."

Kano quickly dropped his stare. Shintaro turned away from Kano, who was left paralyzed on the ground. Kano wanted to get up and punch him in his smug face, but he couldn't move. Because he knew he was right. He knew that he'd failed to protect everyone who mattered most to him, and when it really mattered, he was too weak to save anyone. So, instead of going after Shintaro, who strolled away, he sat in the same spot, and let the tears roll.


	2. Chapter 2: Return to Reality

Chapter 2: Return to reality

Kano's eyes opened, and he stared at the roof. For a while, he thought of nothing, as he lay, expressionless. But eventually, he processed his dream. This dream wasn't just a one off; it was recurring dream, which plagued him for as long as he could remember. He had hoped, after he realized it was Shintaro who had joined the Dan, that his nightmares would stop, and he could form a fresh perspective of him. But, his hopes had been crushed, and he still hated Shintaro with an undying passion. Throughout his dwelling, an unusual smell entered his room. He sniffed the air gently, in an attempt to determine what the fragrance was. Then it hit him. _Pancakes._ Excitement rushed through his body, as he leapt from his bed. Kano loved pancakes. So, Kano jumped up, grabbed his jacket, and swanned out of his bedroom, as he bottled his feelings and emotions once again, to prepare for another exciting day with the Dan.

Kido skilfully flipped another pancake into the air, and it gracefully landed back in the pan. Then, with her keen judgement, she decided enough was enough as she placed the final pancake onto the pile. She stood for a moment, admiring her leaning tower of pancakes, with her free hand on her hip.

"Hey Kido, can I have some?" asked Kano, as he stealthily appeared behind her. In her shock, Kido quickly spun on the spot, now wielding the frying pan as a weapon. Just after her body turned, her arm quickly followed, as she smashed the pan straight into Kano's face. The blow launched him across the room, as he tripped face first into the wall behind him.

Kido arrived at the table, pancakes in hand, as she placed her work of art in the centre of the table, quietly proud of her masterpiece. The four boys and Mary sat around the table, all eager to get started. Konoha's eyes followed the pancakes contently as they were set down, as if they were his unwary prey about to be devoured.

"That really hurt…" mumbled Kano childishly, as he rubbed his face.

"Well, don't creep up on people." Kido said soullessly. However, the incident was quickly forgotten, and as soon as Kid took her seat, the boys attacked the pancakes from all angles, taking as much as they could for themselves.

"bwahhhh, that was amazing…" said Kano, as he slouched in his chair. There was enough for everyone, except for Konoha of course, who could've kept eating all day. They all sat in silent appreciation of the meal for a minute or so, until Kido broke the silence.

"So, Momo , Ene and Shintaro are coming over later, and Momo and Ene were insistent that we go to the circus for the day. Has anyone got any better ideas on what to do?" At the mention of Shintaro's name, Kano flinched, as his memories from the night before came flooding back. Apart from Kano though, everyone looked to eachother to see for any objections to the idea.

"No? Alright, the circus it-" Kido's sentence was interrupted by Konoha raising his hand.

"…Yes?" asked Kido.

"…What's a circus?" He replied, in his usual, soft, clueless tone. Before anyone else got a chance to reply, Kano swooped in.

"I can answer that!" He exclaimed. He jumped up from his seat, almost as if to start a musical. "A circus is a place where loads of people crowd around to watch people with unusual talents, like us, make a fool of themselves." Then, quick as a flash, something formulated in his mind. He put his arm around Kido playfully. "Ya see, me and Seto first met Kido as a circus act-" and before he got the chance to finish his fictitious, and, as far as he was concerned, hilarious, story, Kido jammed her elbow right into Kano's gut. Kano, who forsaw the attack coming, attempted to dodge the assault. Unfortunately, Kano overestimated his balance, and went over on his ankle, sprawling across the floor. He let out a yelp of agony. At the same time, there was a knock at the door. Kido stood up and headed towards the door, without even a hint of remorse.

Kido opened the door to see Momo, as energetic as ever, standing by the door, and Shintaro, collapsed in the shade of a nearby tree. From where Kido was standing, she could also make out the voice of Ene, ranting on at Shintaro for one reason or another.

"Hey Kid- I mean, commander!" Momo said, as she straightened up her back.

"Hey Momo," Replied Kido, "Is he okay?" she said, gesturing towards Shintaro.

"Oh, he's fine. He's just not too used to walking this far."

"But don't you only live a couple of blocks away…?"

Yeah, let's just say that Shintaro's not as fit as he should be for his age."

Kido, with a mumble of acceptance, lead Momo through to the rest of the group, followed by Shintaro, who managed to drag himself in. Kano was still lying on the floor, and the rest of the group was gathered around him. Momo skipped over quickly.

"What happened to him?" she asked Seto in a curious tone.

"Oh, he fell over. He thinks he might've broken is ankle." replied Seto. Mary was knelt down near him, fretting and worrying about Kano, while Hibiya was squatting next to his ankle. A devilish grin grew across his face, as he poked the apparently broken ankle. Kano squealed, in an exaggerated cry of pain. Mary began to fret even more, as he wrapped her arms around Kano in an attempt to reassure him. It was all too obvious that Kano loved the attention.

"Get up, we're going." said Kido mercilessly.

"But Kido, I've broken my ankle!" wailed Kano. Kido let out a sigh of annoyance. She knelt down next to Hibiya, and looked at his ankle.

"It's probably just a sprain," dismissed Kido "but, if it hurts so badly, I guess you can't come along to the circus." Kano realized he had trapped himself. The only way to get to go along with the others would be to make a miraculous recovery. However, although his break was an act, the sprain wasn't. He couldn't make a recovery. He would have to stay behind.

"B-but- You can't just leave me here alone, right?" Kano pleaded. "Someone's gotta stay with me!" At that time, Shintaro finally managed to drag himself into the room, and launched himself onto the nearest chair.

"What's happening…?" He asked.

"We're going to the circus, come on." Kido explained. She was ready to abandon Kano and his antics for today.

"The circus?!" exclaimed Shintaro. "T-that's… Half way across the town! We can't go that far!" Shintaro cried; he was still exhausted from a walk that was only half as long as a walk all the way to the circus.

"Ugh, well then, Kano, I guess we've found your friend for the day." Kido said restlessly. Kano quickly realized the magnitude of what she'd just said. He and Shintaro. Together. All day. And alone. Worry and hatred gathered in Kano's mind; he had no idea if he could keep up a friendly act for so long, especially with someone he despised with such a passion. But, before he could come up with any way to object, the rest of the Mekakushi Dan flocked around Kido, and quickly, they had gone. Only Shintaro, Kano, and Ene remained.

Kano sat and watched for a few minutes, as Ene and Shintaro squabbled, but all of a sudden, they came to a halt.

"Well, Ene went off with the rest of the Dan, so I guess it's just us." Shintaro said to Kano, with an awkward smile. He had no idea how to talk to new people one on one, as staying in his bedroom for so long had prohibited him from doing so. But, unlike the NEET slouched in the chair across the room, Kano knew exactly what he had to do. _Alright, I can do this. All I need to do is keep up my act for one day. I can do it with everyone else, so this shouldn't be too hard._ He thought to himself optimistically.

"Hey," Shintaro said, snapping Kano out of his thought bubble, "Is there anything to eat around here?" He asked. His toneless voice was already causing Kano painful memories. _This is gonna be a long day…_ he thought, as he braced for the day ahead.


	3. Chapter 3: A Trip Outside

Chapter 3: A trip outside

The two boys sat quietly together. Neither of them knew what to say; both their social skills were almost non-existent. They were sat opposite each other, but they both refrained from eye contact, as they stared into different corners of the room. Neither of them had the courage to say the first word. Both boys moved their heads at the same time, and looked directly at eachother. Their eyes met, but only Kano dropped the stare. Realizing that, once again, Kano failed the stare off, he decided enough was enough.

"So," he started, as his signature fake smile grew onto his face, "let's find something to do!" He had hoped that, with this energetic outburst, some of the energy would pass onto Shintaro, but sadly, he was mistaken.

"Like what?" he asked blandly. It was obvious to Kano that Shintaro wanted to be back in his room, preferably alone.

"Well… We could go back to your place?" Kano suggested. Fear once again washed over Shintaro's face at the mention of the hike.

"How are we supposed to do that? You've screwed up your ankle, remember?" Shintaro said, shooting down Kano's idea.

"Well then… We could go and get something to eat. There's a fast food place just along the road." He suggested, in an attempt not to scare Shintaro with the idea of walking again.

"Sure." agreed Shintaro, as he lazily pulled himself up off the chair.

"Great!" Kano exclaimed. _Finally, I've managed to break the ice! _ He thought, as he happily limped and bounded towards the door.

The odd looking pair took a stroll down the street. They were completely open to people's views without Kido's power, but Kano was happy to be out in the open for a change. They received stares from everyone that passed by, but Kano didn't mind at all. He carried on bouncing up the street, seemingly without a care in the world. Shintaro, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He noticed all of the awkward glances they received from people staring at the oddly clothed duo, so he stayed close behind Kano, almost as if to hide behind him, but he didn't let his embarrassment show on his face.

"Hey Kano?"

"Uh-hu?"

"Can't you use your power to look a little more… Normal?"

Kano let out a snicker. "Haha, why would I do that? It's so much more fun this way!"

_Not exactly my definition of fun…_ Shintaro thought. But, he grimaced, and carried on walking along with his more brightly clothed accomplice. Shintaro also realized that he wasn't clothed much better, still in his pyjamas with his old red jacket that was a little too small for him.

As the couple wandered along the road side, deflecting glares from the rest of the world, Kano stepped on his sprained ankle ever so slightly too hard. He felt himself slip, as if on an invisible banana peel, and he went tumbling backwards. He landed on Shintaro, who was unaware of Kano's distress until he hit him, sending the both barrelling backwards, and then landing in a pile on the floor. Now, they had the attention of everyone around them, but everyone averted their eyes from the hooligans on the ground.

Luckily for them, however, they had landed somewhat gracefully. Shintaro had fallen onto his backside, and Kano landed on his lap. Kano looked up, and their eyes met. He locked his gaze with the person he had so much hate for, and stared into his dead eyes. However, Kano saw something he wasn't expecting. It was a flash, of what he could only describe as emotion. Suddenly, all of his anger and hatred he harboured for Shintaro fled him, and once again hid in the depths of his mind. The gaze held for a few moments, until the pain finally hit Shintaro. He yelped and jumped up, holding his lower back and bottom where he'd landed, and doing a little jog on the spot.

The two were stood together after their accident, as Shintaro massaged his back and Kano dusted himself off. He looked to Shintaro, and with a big cheesy grin on his face said "sorry!" Shintaro grunted, and moved the conversation along.

"So, where's that fast food place?" he asked, still rubbing his back.

"Oh, yeah, it's just over there!" Kano stated, as he pointed across the road. And sure enough, there it was.

The two boys wandered in, and Shintaro glanced straight at the menu. Kano reached into his pocket, and his grin quickly faded from his face.

"Erm, Shintaro?"

"Yeah?"

"How much money do you have with you?"

"I thought you were paying…" Realization swept over the two boys, as their stomachs grumbled simultaneously, and they looked at eachother, both pairs of eyes filled with desperation. Neither wanted to go back just to get money, and make the clearly dangerous walk back to the base. This was no problem however, as Kano's mind quickly formulated a strategy.

"I've had an idea." He stated, his grin returning.

The caretaker waddled up to the entrance to the till, holding open the small gate to allow Shintaro to pass through, who glanced around the shop in fear.

"We better not get caught…" He mumbled to the caretaker, who replied "don't worry; this'll go along without a hitch." The caretaker followed Shintaro passed the till. As soon as the caretaker and Shintaro got to a spot out of sight, the caretaker hit the fire alarm. Everyone quickly got up and took their food outside, and the staff quickly evacuated. Then, as soon as the building was empty, the caretaker turned back into Kano, and the boy entered the empty kitchen.

"Success!" Exclaimed Kano, lunged across the room towards the burgers.

"This isn't a good idea…" grunted Shintaro, looking over his shoulder.

"Of course it is, nothing could possibly go wrong! Plus, we're not really stealing too much; we're only taking as much as we need." Kano explained, as he stuffed his pockets with burgers. "Come on Shintaro, loosen up a little!" he encouraged, and with an unhappy groan, Shintaro started to fill his pockets too.

"Get away from there!"

The duo turned to look at eachother, and shared a gulp. Then, they both turned around in sync, to see the manager glaring at the boys, with fire in his eyes. The short, fat man came barrelling towards them, at speeds the boys had never seen a person that size move before. Shintaro, with reactions trained from years of non-stop hardcore gaming, lunged at Kano, pushing him out of the chunky manager's path of destruction. Shintaro, however, didn't have enough time to clear the area as well, and his foot caught the rampaging man's leg, tripping the manager, and causing him to face plant the ground. However, this couldn't keep the tank of a man down for long, and he was quickly back on his feet, as was Kano. The manager once again focused on Kano, his face red with anger and embarrassment, and set off once more on his charge. Kano grabbed for the closest object, which to his advantage, was a frying pan. He steadied himself, and readied for impact. As the manager came within range, Kano swung into action, perfectly mimicking the movement Kido had done to him earlier that day. The pan made a squelching sound as it collided perfectly with the smaller man's flabby face, sending him rocketing into the opposite wall, with such a force that Kano was knocked to the floor too.

Shintaro was now on his feet though, and he lifted Kano back to up. The force of the blow was still rattling through Kano's body however, and his now even more damaged ankle was almost impossible to walk on. He stumbled across the floor, but this time, Shintaro caught him, wrapped Kano's arm around his shoulders, grabbed Kano's waist, and assisted him in limping to the doorway. Every fibre of Kano's being told him to push Shintaro away. He may not be to blame for Ayano's death, but his selfish acts and callous attitude caused her so much sadness in her life, and he never helped her when she needed him most. Kano felt as if even touching Shintaro should disgust him. But, without his help, Kano would never be able to escape the manager's wrath, so for now, he had to begrudgingly take Shintaro's assistance. Also, Kano wouldn't even admit it to himself, but he felt at ease in Shintaro's arms. He didn't know what, but deep down, Kano felt some sort of unidentified bond between them.


	4. Chapter 4:Confronting inner Demons

Chapter 4: Confronting inner demons

The two boys struggled out of the fire exit at the back of the building, and managed to hobble their way back to the base, without catching the gaze of many passers-by. Shintaro opened the door, and helped Kano into the building, before quickly closing it behind them. Kano shrugged Shintaro away, and stumbled across the room. Shintaro quickly ran to the nearest window, and saw a police car rush past. He closed the curtains, and headed into Kano's bedroom after him. As Kano turned around, Shintaro punched Kano in the face. Kano fell to the floor, and Shintaro rubbed his hand in pain.

"Idiot." Shintaro started. "I told you that plan was a stupid idea, but you didn't listen, and now we're being hunted by the police." Kano turned his head to Shintaro, still on his hands and knees. He looked up at Shintaro and realized how they were positioned. Kano was on the ground, and Shintaro was standing above him, looking down and mocking him. It was a position he knew all too well. Suddenly, a wave of emotions shot through Kano's body. He once again realized that Shintaro was the cruel hearted monster he remembered from all those years ago; he hadn't changed at all from the selfish boy he knew. And finally, he had the chance to let him know exactly how he felt.

Kano slowly stood back up, his body shaking in anger. Shintaro took his eyes off of his painful punching hand and looked at Kano, but only for a fraction of a second, before Kano punched Shintaro in the gut with his right hand, then launched his left hand at his head, so that Shintaro fell back onto the bed. Dazed, Shintaro looked up at Kano, who stood above him powerfully. As Shintaro regained his vision, he looked at Kano's eyes, and to his surprise, they were filled with tears.

"I'M the IDIOT?! No, you are, you MONSTER! You had so many chances to save Ayano. But NO, you were too busy being a SELFISH FREAK to care about her!" His words were sinking into Shintaro's brain; they were the words he had told himself countless times before.

"If you had stopped to think for a minute, you'd have realized how much your self-pitying words hurt her! If you hadn't caused her so much grief, she might've been thinking a little straighter before she JUMPED OFF A DAMNED BUILDING! HER DEATH IS ALL. YOUR. FAULT." Kano climbed onto the bed on top of Shintaro, pinning him down. He then raised his fist in the air, preparing to strike a volley of blows right into his face, until he looked him in the eyes. What Kano saw in Shintaro's eyes caused him to come to a halt.

In Shintaro's normally dark, dead eyes, tears had formed. Instead of the empty eyes Kano had glared into before, Shintaro's eyes were filled with sadness, pain, and regret.

"I know… I… I'm so sorry…" He blubbered. And that's when Kano realized it. In real life, Shintaro didn't blame Kano, or anyone else, for what happened to Ayano. He blamed himself. Just like Kano. The two boy's tear-filled eyes gazed directly into each other, as they both, for the first time ever, shared their pain with someone else. They finally found someone else who could understand. Kano slowly lowered his fist to his side, and stayed hovering over Shintaro for a few more seconds. But to the two boys, those seconds felt like years. Then, Kano dropped onto Shintaro, clinging onto him as if his life depended on it. Shintaro wrapped his arms around him, and the tears began to roll down his face, onto the mattress beneath him. Kano began to sob, as he buried his face in Shintaro's shoulder. The two boys clung to eachother even tighter as the tear and sobbing started, and the two, mentally scared children lay together for hours on end, until they both fell asleep. And for the first time in years, Kano had a dreamless, wonderful sleep.


End file.
